Filed under: Sania Mirza
The Indo-African pair, seeded second, was in total control throughout the match that they dominated the proceedings for a 6-3, 6-3 win over the Russian duo of Elena Vesnina and Anastassia Rodionova much to the delight of the home crowd at the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association courts.
The visibly happy Hyderabadi girl hugged her partner in joy and then hit a ball to the crowd acknowledging their support. The 19-year old Indian, the biggest draw at the event, had disappointed in the singles, shocked in the second round by France’s Camille Pin in a three-setter.
But on Sunday, Sania, in the company of Huber, emerged the deserving winner against the fourth seeded pair.
Filed under: Sania Mirza
It was an uneven performance from the Swiss former world number one against an opponent who also failed to find any consistency before a rowdy sell-out crowd.
“I’m happy to be through, to be honest,” the 25-year-old told reporters. “It wasn’t the greatest match I’ve played, but I’m through.
“It felt like a soccer game out there but it didn’t really bother me. Maybe in the past I would get annoyed by the crowd but today I just tried to go through it.
“But I just couldn’t find my rhythm, coming from playing indoors. I came here Friday, but it always takes you a couple of matches.”
Hingis broke to 3-1 with a reflex volley at the net, only to drop serve in the next game to a crosscourt return before immediately regaining the lead with a dropshot.
Mirza held off two set points at 5-2 before Hingis fought off a break point at 5-3 and closed out on her fourth set point.
In the second set, Hingis broke three times but allowed Mirza to level on each occasion. Having failed to serve out the match at 5-4, Hingis broke again and secured the match.
“I felt I had the game under control and whenever I needed it I was able to step it up,” said Hingis, who humbled Maria Sharapova in Tokyo earlier this month to reach her first final since returning to the tour at the beginning of the year.
“I wasn’t thinking that I was going to lose the set because I felt she always had ups and downs. So did I, but every time I needed it I knew I could pressure her.”
Hingis was noticeably slow around the court at times but put that down to her training programme.
“I came back home after Tokyo and was doing a lot of physical work and conditioning, and I think I overdid it a little bit and I’m still recovering,” she said.
Russian fifth seed Nadia Petrova fell 6-4 6-1 to compatriot Maria Kirilenko.
Seventh-seeded Italian Francesca Schiavone defeated Virginie Razzano of France 6-4 6-4 while Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova took just 55 minutes to overwhelm German Martina Muller 6-2 6-0.
Filed under: Sania Mirza
An elbow injury may force India’s tennis star Sania Mirza, who lost to Martina Hingis in the first round of the Dubai Open, to pull out of Qatar Total Open which begins in Doha from February 27.
The Indian tennis ace played with a strapped right elbow as she went down to the five-time Grand Slam champion Hingis 3-6 5-7 on Tuesday.
“I got my elbow injured while playing in the singles during the Bangalore Open. I have been carrying a few injuries from the past few weeks and that may lead me to pull out of the Doha Open,” Sania said.
Asked if the elbow injury forced her to take such a decision, she said, “probably, I won’t be going to Doha because of the elbow.”
Sania, currently ranked at No 36 in the world, applauded the crowd for the support she got from them.
“It is unfortunate that I had to run into Martina Hingis in the first round,” said Sania, the doubles title winner at the Bangalore Open last week.
Hingis, however, seemed a bit uncomfortable and surprised with the way the crowd cheered for the Indian teenager.
“It looked more like a football match,” Hingis said.
“I could not find my rhythm and I am just happy to be through to the next round.”
